Return to Vegas
by cwgirlup
Summary: Ghost Adventures slash. Nick/Zak. The beginning of my 'Family' series. Nick's return to Vegas.


Title: Return to Vegas

Pairing: Nick/Zak

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one. Whatever.

Author's notes: The beginning of my 'Family' series. Nick's return to Vegas.

Return to Vegas

"I want a divorce."

"Go away, Nick. I'm trying to watch TV."

Nick stepped in front of Roni, blocking her view. "I want a divorce."

"And I want a husband who doesn't suck his best friend's dick. We don't always get what we want. Now move your ass."

Nick grabbed the remote and removed the batteries, tossing them across the room. Roni jumped to her feet, astonishment written across her face. "What the fuck, Nick?!"

"I said, I want a divorce. I can't live like this anymore, Roni. I'm miserable, and I hate it here."

"Yeah, well, I bet you'd be a lot more miserable if I went crying to People magazine about my cheating husband's gay affair with his co-star."

"I don't give a shit what you do, Roni. Take out a fucking billboard if you want."

"What about Zak? Huh? You know Ghost Adventures is his life. What if the show gets canceled because of your decision?"

"Zak and I have talked about this. We're not going to keep this secret anymore. If the show takes a hit or gets canceled, so be it. We were ghost hunters before the show, we'll still be ghost hunters without it." He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Look, I don't want this to turn nasty. Tomorrow my lawyer is going to file the divorce papers and cite 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for the split. I just wanted to give you a little heads up."

"And what makes you think I'm not going to run to the tabloids with my story of betrayal and pictures to back it up?"

"Well for one thing, I'm sure you don't want to risk my being able to pay you a nice, fat alimony and child support check every month. And besides, you aren't the only one with pictures." He walked to his desk and unlocked a drawer, pulling out a fat envelope and tossing it on the couch. Roni's face paled as she pulled out the photos. "I especially like your face in that one where he's sucking on your tits. Very natural."

Roni ripped the picture in question into pieces and threw them at Nick. "Fine. So I'm having an affair. Maybe I just wanted to see what it was like to be with a real man."

Nick refused to take the bait. "Look Roni, if you want to fuck the entire defensive line of the New England Patriots, go for it. I just want out, and I want to make this as easy as possible on Annabelle."

Roni stared at him, trying to decide how to respond. She set her lips in a thin line and spat, "Fine. If you want it easy, I'll make it easy. Take Annabelle and get out."

"What?"

"I mean it. Get out now."

"It's 10:00 at night. Where the hell are we supposed to go?"

"Don't know, don't care. You want to leave – so leave."

"And you really want me to take Annabelle?"

Roni's face softened a bit. "She's much more attached to you than me. If you really want this to be as easy as possible on her, then she needs to be with you."

"I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you. Just take her and go."

"At least give me a few hours to get some things packed."

Roni thought a moment. "Ok. I'll go stay at a hotel for tonight. Be gone when I get back in the morning."

"Don't worry. As soon as I can get us packed, we'll be out of here and on the first flight to Vegas."

Her eyes went wide. "Vegas? And do what? Move in with Zak?"

"We've discussed it. We'll stay with him at least until we figure out what we want to do next."

Roni scoffed disbelievingly. "I can't wait to see how that works out. You really think Zak's going to happily give up his bachelor lifestyle for a live-in boyfriend and his daughter? How do you think he's going to react to having a toddler around 24/7? I give it three months, tops, before he cuts and runs."

"You don't know Zak, Roni. He's not the bad, selfish person you like to make him out to be."

"Excuse me if I don't sing the praises of the man that my husband has been fucking behind my back for years."

Color rose in Nick's cheeks as he opened his mouth to speak, but Roni cut him off. "I don't want to hear it. I'm going to get some clothes and kiss Annabelle goodbye. Be gone by 9:00 tomorrow morning."

He nodded. "We will be."

20 minutes later, Roni's car was backing out of the driveway. Nick stood in the middle of their bedroom, empty suitcases on the bed, trying to decide what to take and what to leave. Shirts, pants, underwear, socks, toiletries – all tossed in without much thought. Anything that was forgotten could be bought in Vegas. He crept into Annabelle's room and quietly grabbed clothes and diapers. He packed some of her favorite toys and books, hoping that some familiar items would help her deal with the changes. He took the suitcases and set them by the front door.

He checked his watch. The earliest non-stop flight that he had been able to find left at 6:45 AM. Even allowing two hours before the flight, he still had a good five hours before he needed to leave. He knew that there was no way he would be able to sleep, so he plopped himself on the couch in the den to watch TV. He pulled his phone out with no particular intention in mind, just fidgety and unable to relax. He checked his Twitter feed, and among dozens of fan Tweets, he found a random Tweet from Zak that made him laugh.

_Never realized how many types of cheese there are. Wonder how long it would take to try them all. #DeepThoughts #CheeseCentric_

Nick turned his phone over in his hand, debating between calling Zak to let him know they were coming and surprising him when they got there. The need to hear his voice won out in the end, and he found himself listening to the ring of the other phone as he waited for Zak to pick up.

"Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. How may I help you?

Nick grinned. Zak was in a playful mood. "I'd like a large pepperoni with mushrooms and onions, please."

"You got it. You want that delivered?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Oh I'm sorry. Looks like that's going to take a lot longer than 30 minutes."

Nick laughed. "Dork."

"So, what's up?"

"I told Roni I want a divorce."

Zak's light hearted tone vanished. "Holy shit, dude. How did that go?"

Nick recounted the whole story, ending with Roni kicking him out.

"She threw you out? Just like that?"

"Yep. Told me to be out by tomorrow morning and to take Annabelle with me."

"What the fuck? She doesn't even want the baby?"

"Seems that way. She said some stuff about Annabelle being more attached to me and told me to take her."

"Dude, that's just – fuck, I don't even know what to say to that. You two are coming here, right?"

Nick closed his eyes in relief. "Yeah, that's what I was planning on. We can stay in a hotel until we find a place if you don't want to deal with a little one underfoot."

"What? Bullshit, you will. You're going to stay with me. I mean, that's what we talked about right? You coming back to Vegas and moving in with me?"

"I know. And I still want to. It's just – we never talked about Annabelle being in the picture for more than visits. I wasn't sure how you'd take the idea of her living with us full time."

"Nick, I've always known that you and Annabelle were a package deal. I love you both, and I want you with me. Things will work out, you'll see. Now give me your flight information, and I'll pick you up at the airport."

"You don't have to do that. We can just catch a cab to your place."

"With luggage and the baby? No way. I'll be there."

Realizing that he wouldn't win and not really wanting to, Nick relented and gave Zak the flight number and arrival time. Zak scrawled the info on a sticky note and said, "Got it. I'll meet you and Annabelle at the baggage claim. He paused for a moment, reluctant to sever his connection to Nick. "Just hang in there, G. Text me when the plane is ready to leave."

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you more. See you soon."

Zak hung up his cell and headed for the guest room next to the master suite. He had been using it mostly for storage, but now he got busy clearing it out, packing things into boxes to take to his storage unit and throwing other things away. He worked until the room was empty, then decided to shower and try to sleep a bit before he headed to the airport.

Several hours later, he was pacing by the baggage claim. The thought crossed his mind that he probably looked like an expectant father as he checked the flight board for the fourth time. According to it, Nick's flight had arrived 15 minutes before, but there was no sign of him. He pulled out his phone to try texting again when he caught sight of Nick walking toward him, a diaper bag over one shoulder, one hand holding Annabelle's, and the other carrying a carseat.

Annabelle let go of Nick's hand and broke into a trot when she saw who was waiting. "Unca Zak!"

He swung her up into strong arms and kissed her forehead. "Hey, princess. Did you have fun on the airplane?"

"We fwied inna hairpane! High!"

"You flew high in the airplane? Wow, that sounds fun."

"Yeah."

Nick smiled. "Can I break into this conversation long enough to say hi?"

Zak reached out and hugged Nick with his free arm. They itched to kiss each other but knew that they had to be careful in public a little while longer. "Hey, you. Long trip?"

"Yeah. But Annabelle behaved really well during the flight, so that helped. She's probably ready to eat though, and I'm starved."

"Well, let's stop and eat something on the way home."

"Sounds great."

"Ok. Did you just bring these two bags?" Zak gestured to the suitcases that he had pulled from the conveyor belt.

"Yeah, I just brought enough to get us through for now. I can fly back and get the rest of our stuff after things have cooled down a bit."

"That's probably a good idea. Let's go eat."

They walked to Zak's SUV and waited while Nick installed Annabelle's carseat. He buckled her in and the trio quickly left the airport and headed to a nearby restaurant. Annabelle scarfed down her meal of grilled chicken fingers and fresh fruit, then began busily stealing pieces of Zak's steamed broccoli while the adults talked.

"I cleaned out that room next to mine for Annabelle. I thought we could make that into her room, and that way we'll be close if she needs us during the night. I wasn't sure if she still slept in a crib or not though, so I decided to wait on buying anything until you got here."

"Good idea. She does sleep in a crib, but now that she's two, I've been thinking about moving her to a regular bed. I'm just not sure if now is the time to do it, with all of the other changes she's going to be dealing with."

"I have an idea. There's a furniture store on the way home – why don't we stop there and look around? Maybe that will give you an idea of what you want to do."

"Ok. Couldn't hurt to look."

Zak finished what was left of his meal while Nick cleaned the smeared ketchup from Annabelle's face, and they were soon driving to the furniture store. The little girl was a bit sleepy from the long flight and big lunch, so Nick carried her through the store, her head resting against his shoulder. They wandered through the children's section, Zak trailing aimlessly behind Nick, when he suddenly made a beeline for the corner of the area.

"Nick? Nick, come look at this. It's perfect." Nick complied, wondering what could have possibly enthralled Zak in a furniture store.

He found him standing next to a display bed. "Isn't this perfect, Nick? See, it's like a castle, and this pick canopy is the roof. You can even get this green dust ruffle that looks like grass. And the best part is that it's a toddler bed, so it's the perfect way to move her from a crib to a bed. What do you think?"

Nick looked from the bed to Zak's animated expression and smiled. "I think you're right. Let's get it."

They flagged down a passing salesman and placed the order. Upon being told that the bed was on back order and would take about five days to arrive, Nick looked at Zak and said, "Well, we can move the fold out couch into that room for a few days until the bed arrives."

Zak pulled Nick aside, out of the salesman's hearing. "Instead of doing that, why don't we just let her sleep with us? It's only for a few days, and with the room empty, we can get it painted and decorated by the time her bed is ready."

Nick thought for a minute. "I don't want her to get used to sleeping with us, but you're right – it's only a few days."

They finalized the order and left, heading for home. Annabelle fell asleep during the short ride, and Nick carried her into the house while Zak dealt with the luggage. He took it to their room while Nick put the sleeping baby on the couch to finish her nap. When Zak returned to the den, he found Nick trying to calm a half awake Annabelle. The little girl was fussing and tossing from side to side, unable to settle down.

"She woke up?"

"Yeah, but she needs to take a longer nap or she's going to be hell-on-wheels tonight."

"Maybe she'd sleep better in our bed."

Annabelle slid off the couch and walked to the recliner where Zak was sitting. Silently, she climbed into his lap and snuggled against his chest. Her eyes closed, and she let out a small sigh as she drifted back to sleep.

Nick smiled. "I guess Uncle Zak has the magic touch. I'll take her and put her in bed."

"I've got a better idea. I'm wiped, and I bet you are too. Why don't we all go take a nap?"

"Sounds good to me. I haven't slept since last night."

Zak carried Annabelle into their room and laid her in the bed while Nick dug through his suitcase for sweats to change into. Zak pulled off his baggy jeans and lay down on his side next to the little girl while Nick changed clothes. He felt the mattress dip as Nick slid in behind him and arranged the covers over the three of them. He threw an arm over the older man and kissed the back of his neck as he felt himself drifting off.

Zak lay still as he listened to the deep, even breathing on either side of him. He knew that they had many hurdles to overcome ahead of them, but for now, he had everything he ever wanted.

THE END


End file.
